The global knowledge economy, at its core, is driven by science-based innovative technologies. For any country to remain a major economic power in such an economy, it must vastly improve and increase its pool of scientists and technologists. In this economy, the ability to intelligently choose from a set of concepts to bear upon an unsolved problem is of essence.

The search for the likes of Faradays and Maxwells is deliberate. They are exemplars of what the human mind is capable of achieving. The world’s thriving electrical and electronics industry, on which so much of the quality of our lives depends, is due to them. Michael Faraday (1791 –1867)) (who didn’t know mathematics), towards the end of his career, gave to science the concept of electric and magnetic fields, and in 1865 James Maxwell (1831 – 1879) (who knew a great deal of mathematics) gave Faraday’s abstract concept a compact mathematical embodiment (which awed Faraday). Thus was laid the foundation of a phenomenal industry and the harnessing of a force of Nature that has changed the face of human civilization. Alexander Graham Bell’s patent on the telephone (perhaps the most important patent in history) came soon after in 1876.

Amazingly, and with the benefit of hindsight, the common thread between Faraday and Maxwell was their ability to think and reason in abstract terms about the real world and eventually map them to measurable real world effects. Since the days of Galileo Galilei, modern science and mathematics have happily complemented each other by inventing and sharing concepts and ideas on a foundation of axiomatic reasoning. Modern mathematics is mainly deductive and essentially axiomatic, while modern science is mainly inductive and axiomatic to the extent it uses mathematics. The language of all advanced science (physics, in particular) is mathematics (which combines amazing symbolic brevity with reasoning). The ability of humans to frame and work with abstract concepts provide the vital link between mathematics and science.

Executing a known mathematical algorithm is no longer considered an intellectual activity because, as Alan Turing showed in 1936, it is mechanizable and can be accomplished without the benefit of insight. It can be performed by a human mathematician who has unlimited time and energy, an unlimited supply of paper and pencils, perfect concentration, and works according to some algorithmic or ‘rule-of-thumb’ method—an ideal characterization of a “techno-coolie”. However, creating new concepts in mathematics, and new algorithms requires intelligence of a rare kind as does using mathematics to connect observations in the real world. The epitome of human ingenuity is creating new and useful concepts.

By raw talent, we mean those rare, mentally agile, naturally-gifted, free-thinking individuals who are the key to an organization’s success. They are rare because of their ability to do out-of-the-box, rational scientific thinking and who possess an ability to continuously expand their knowledge base in diverse areas including science and mathematics, deal with multiple disciplines and are capable of technology mobility (move from one “core” area to another). That is, they would be individuals with the potential ability to generate innovative and patentable technology. They would be better able to deal with the problems that may arise during the development of futuristic technologies. Our focus is on molding unpolished talent who can fulfill the unmet or undreamed needs of society.